Recommendations for biking, paddling, hiking and driving through Vermont's colors

Sep. 26, 2013

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Written by

April Burbank

Free Press Staff Writer

Sunset seen from the Maple Ridge trail on Mt. Mansfield in Underhill on Tuesday, September 24, 2013. The flank of the forehead is on the left. Camels Hump can be seen in the distance on the right. / GLENN RUSSELL/FREE PRESS

A few maple leaves make a showing on the Wompahoofus trail on Mount Mansfield in Underhill on Tuesday. / GLENN RUSSELL/FREE PRESS

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Vermont sees about 3.5 million visitors every fall, according to the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing, and the season brings a new dimension to Vermont’s rivers, roads and mountains for local and out-of-state enthusiasts alike.

The Burlington Free Press recently asked four Vermonters to share their favorite places to see foliage:

THE CYCLIST: Essex to Cambridge

Jen Butson, communications director at the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing, recommends a fall bike ride that starts with apple picking and ends with a winery visit before looping back. She made the trip last fall and said it was “very memorable.”

Butson suggested starting a fall day at Chapin Orchard in Essex for apple picking, cider and donuts.

Then Butson said to park in Essex — she has parked at the Essex Free Library in the past — and set out biking toward Westford. Route 128 goes north through Westford, where Butson remembers passing the picturesque Westford Town Green and some “stunning” rolling pastures on the way to Fairfax.

Route 128 is currently undergoing a major construction project, and the Vermont Agency of Transportation said they do not recommend bicycle traffic there until late October, when the road should be paved. Osgood Hill Road bypasses much of the construction, or cyclists could make other modifications to the route.

After Westford, Buston said to take Route 104 east, riding along the Lamoille River toward Cambridge, where bikers can stop at Boyden Valley Winery.

“Of course there’s the decadent wine, but at the same point, just the ambiance of the space is really gorgeous,” Butson said. “They also do chocolate tastings there, which is another bonus.”

Then Butson recommends returning to Essex on Route 15. It’s a ride for a novice to intermediate bicycle rider, Butson said. Prepare for some hills in the Cambridge area, and since the whole cycling trip takes about three hours, plan to leave Essex in the morning to avoid hitting Route 15 traffic at rush hour. The loop that includes Route 128 is about 34 miles total.

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THE MOM: Snake Mountain

For a trip that kids can enjoy, Amanda Kuhnert recommends Snake Mountain in Addison County.

The hike is 3.6 miles round-trip, and it typically takes between three and four hours. Kuhnert, the co-founder of a website called VTmtnmoms.com, said Snake Mountain was a good hike for most kids 6 years and older.

It’s a gentle uphill trip that ends with a view of the southern part of Lake Champlain and a flat space on the top of the mountain that Kuhnert said is good for picnics.

Kuhnert recommends stopping at the Addison Four Corners Store to get fixing for a picnic lunch before the hike, or for treats afterward.

“Chocolate is a miracle worker for kids on the trail,” Kuhnert wrote in an email.

Kuhnert, said the Addison Central School, which is just across the street from the store, has a playground that kids might enjoy after the hike.

“There’s a really beautiful view... It’s just sort of a hidden little spot,” Kuhnert said of the park.

THE PADDLER: Winooski River

Ryan McCall, president of the Vermont Paddlers Club, recommends a canoe trip on the Winooski River that begins in Duxbury with a great view of Camel’s Hump.

“Putting in below Bolton Falls and paddling all the way down to Richmond is gorgeous,” McCall said. “You don’t even know you’re along the highway.”

The trip is mostly flat water, he said, with some rapids near a train trestle about three-fourths of a mile downstream from the dam. Those rapids are typically beginner-level, McCall said, but can change with the level of the river.

The Winooski Valley Park District website describes a portage option for paddlers who do not want to go through the rapids, and McCall said another option would be to start the trip downstream from the railroad bridge at River Road.

Along the Winooski River, he said, there are little beaches and some great fishing spots.

McCall said to take out in Jonesville, or go a bit farther and stop at Richmond Town Green right next to On the Rise Bakery. The whole trip from the Bolton Falls Dam to Richmond is about 10.5 miles.

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For a whitewater trip, McCall recommends the West River Release — a whitewater run timed with the release of the river’s Ball Mountain Dam — in Jamaica State Park in southern Vermont, which is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 28. The release creates whitewater rapids of Class 2 and Class 3, and vendors come to the park to sell food and gear.

The leaves have already begun to turn in Jamaica, McCall said, and he predicts “prime foliage” in time for the event.

THE SCIENTIST: Mount Mansfield State Forest

William Keeton, professor of forestry and forest ecology at the University of Vermont, recommends two places: Niquette Bay State Park in Colchester and Butler Lodge Trail on Mount Mansfield.

Niquette Bay State Park is a good place, he said, because “you just tend to see a real nice diversity of colors.” That’s because of the mixture of trees: Northern hardwoods as well as oaks, hickory and others.

For a challenging hike and more dramatic colors, he said, he hikes up the west side of Mount Mansfield from Underhill on the Butler Lodge Trail, then takes the Wampahoofus Trail to the Maple Ridge Trail and the Frost Trail on the way down for a rigorous trip totaling about five miles.

“Butler Lodge is really nice because you go up through this gradient of different forest types,” including sugar maple, yellow birch, beech and spruce, Keeton said. “If you’re driving, of course, you can see the same thing from any of the major gaps or passes that go through the mountains.”

But there is at least one part of the mountain foliage experience that can’t be replicated from the road: “As you’re coming through the other side of the loop, you walk through this incredible stand of mountain paper birch,” Keeton said. “It can grow in these groves that are reminiscent of aspen stands out in the rocky mountains, or something. In the fall, they turn this unbelievably bright yellow, and it’s just paradise walking down that slope.”

Keeton knows the forests well because of his work, and he said fall foliage highlights Vermont’s conservation efforts.

“It’s just a great opportunity to remind ourselves of how much we value this forested landscape that we are so lucky to have in Vermont, and we need to do everything we can to hold on to that,” Keeton said.

Note: The first section of this article has been updated to account for current construction work on Route 128 that could require bicyclists to make modifications to the original recommended trip.